Alone Time
by omegafire17
Summary: After that 'memorable' scene on the rooftop, Pyrrha reluctantly left Jaune alone to his outpouring feelings, where he didn't return until they'd all gone to sleep. What happens the next night? PyrrhaXJaune, Rated T.
1. Growing Closer

**Disclaimer:** Don't own RWBY or it's characters; those belong to RoosterTeeth and Monty Oum.

**Rating:** T

**Summary mostly said it :P Also, though I've seen the newest episode Forever Fall, this takes place after Jaunedice, Part 2 only. So keep that in mind as you enjoy lol**

* * *

Pyrrha looked at her book's page, _The History of the Faunus_, but she couldn't focus. So with a silent breath, she closed the book.

The room itself was just as silent, despite having having four people living in it, with one exception: Nora was humming something to herself as she went about her business. Ren sat on the opposite bed, maintaining the sharpness of his weapons, but her focus was elsewhere. Jaune lay on his bed opposite hers, looking generally dejected, and simply toying with the fabric of his pillowcase. The sight of him like that made her heart ache, and she wished she could say something, but Ren and Nora's presence in the room made her choice of words limited.

Jaune sighed a bit. "Nora, will you stop humming?" he asked, but not with any real annoyance.

"Can't do that!" she said cheerfully. "I gotta make up a song!"

"For what?" Pyrrha asked.

"For when I finally get to break Cardin's legs!"

She grunted, putting a hand to her cheek. "Maybe you should go do it right now" she said quietly. "He'd deserve it"

There was a moment where Nora turned to her, surprised, then she lit up: "I should!" she exclaimed, hands up before laughing as she took Magnhild from it's slot on the wall. "Oh yes! He's _really_ gonna feel this!" she said evilly, with a grin to match.

As this was literally happening before her eyes, Pyrrha felt a rising horror and quickly sat up, opening her mouth to say that no she shouldn't (even though she was all for it). But something stopped her in her tracks.

Nora was gonna leave the room...

So after a moment, hard as it was, she forcibly kept herself silent and merely smiled slightly at Nora. "Good luck."

The girl in question gave off another laugh and bounded out of the room.

Ren slowly stood up, his weapons disappearing up his sleeves, looking carefully at her.

Pyrrha could tell he suspected some or all of what she was doing, and ignored Jaune's slow understanding of what just happened. "Uh" she briefly stammered, before clearing her throat. "If possible Ren, don't let her kill him. But at the very least, don't let anyone connect you to whatever happens"

Ren's eyes briefly flicked to Jaune, then looked at the door for a moment, before going back to her. "Should be interesting either way" he merely said, then left. She could have sworn she heard a faint sigh through the walls though, moments after he'd left.

"Pyrrha?" Jaune asked, sitting up in a hurry, looking between her and the door. "What was that?"

"I don't know what you mean?" she asked faintly, but it was partly true.

He gestured with both arms toward the door. "First you let Nora go, to break Cardin's legs, which I am totally against by the way, then you tell Ren to keep her in line? And that's if it's possible? Why didn't you stop her in the first place?"

She didn't answer right away; she was trying to think about how to best reply. Her eventual answer? "Well, I didn't really plan that, exactly" she said, hands together. "But uh, I did want them to leave the room"

That threw him off, but only for a few seconds. "Why though?"

"So we could talk" she said simply.

Rather than be thrown by this, or curious/confused about why, Jaune's first reaction was to groan and throw himself backward. "Let me guess, this is about how I still need help even if I have to do it myself?" he asked, rather bitterly.

"Actually, no"

He didn't respond for a few moments, but his head did lift a little. "No?" he asked. "Then what did you want, Pyrrha?"

She glanced down, and felt her cheeks heat up slightly. "Well, to be alone together" she admitted sheepishly. "And uh, to kiss you, Jaune"

Jaune gave a noncommital grunt, his head laying back down, and that was all.

Even without that subdued reaction, she could tell her answer hadn't really registered, not yet. So, hands still on her lap, she waited.

Five seconds passed, then ten, then twenty... Jaune turned himself to his side, away from her and without no sudden movements; a false alarm. Then his body spontaneously jerked around, both literally and with vocal help, and it was bad enough that he ultimately landed on back-first on the floor. "Jaune!" she breathed, swinging her legs over the bed.

Maybe it was the shock, but he neither heard her, nor saw her offered hand; so he got up by himself. She wasn't remotely offended, just worried as she straightened up. "Jaune?"

"I'm dreaming" she heard, almost as if from far-away. She barely had enough time to blink before he went on, slowly tapping the side of his head. "I'm dreaming, yeah, that's what it is!"

She stared at the back of his head for two seconds, then slowly shook herself out of it, thinking quickly. Okay, he thought he was dreaming even though he obviously isn't, and she didn't want to waste time with a slow, easy progression back to his normal self. So what to do next? As she did this, Jaune continued to tap the side of his head for awhile, making sounds here and there.

Eventually, she stepped forward, placing a hand on his shoulder. And when he didn't notice that, she pulled him around to face her, which startled him.

She didn't speak for a moment. "Jaune" she spoke softly. "When you dream, does anything ever feel solid?"

"Uh..." he breathed, blinking once, glancing repeatedly at her hands on his shoulders. "No"

She gave off a small smile. "Then I don't think you're dreaming" she said gently. "About anything"

Jaune slowly looked down, groaning a bit. "Oh, if this were any other time, I'd be thrilled!" he said. "Pyrrha, I'm not- I just... *sighs* I can't-"

"Jaune, don't you dare say you can't!" she exclaimed, pushing him away, enough that the backs of his legs hit his bed and startling him. An instant later, she realized what she'd done: "Oh no" she breathed, instinctively reaching forward then stopping herself. "Jaune, I-I'm so sorry. I don't know what made me do that..."

The way Jaune stared at her, she couldn't hold his gaze, and a silence stretched unbearably long.

"I... I think I do, Pyrrha"

She looked up slowly; he looked hesitant and unsure, but in a new way. "Jaune?"

"Last night, what I said-" he said, trying to gesture the rest of it, and failing before he sighed. "I was too caught up in my own wallow to see it at first, but, driving you away... I shouldn't have done that, or hurt you"

She felt a little warm at that, and stepped forward. "Jaune-"

"The part I don't understand though?" he asked, sounding like it was really important and that he get it out there. "This: how can you still love me?"

She was just about to reply, before she registered the 'still' bit. "What?" she breathed, not entirely sure what he meant.

"I can get behind it, you falling in love with me" he said quickly, nervous and hesitant. "It's possible, right? Yeah! Anyway, uh, that's my question; after last night, how can nothing have changed that!? I mean, Pyrrha, I snuck into-"

She stepped forward and hugged him, making sure he didn't finish (which judging by his startled gasp, she'd succeeded).

"I never said last night didn't change things, Jaune" she stated faintly, breathing slowly. "I wish you had never done so, that it wasn't true, or that you didn't have that tendency to do things on your own without any help"

Jaune didn't say anything in reply, but he did slowly and hesitantly hold her back.

"But wishing will not do anything; it is done" she breathed, slowly pulling back, just enough to look at him. "It's a setback, Jaune... but only that"

Judging by the slight red in Jaune's cheeks, he was realizing that they were pretty close, literally. "Pyrrha" he breathed, making a sound. "How is this happening?"

She put her hands back on his shoulders, this time closer to his neck. "I think a better question would be 'Do I want to?', Jaune" she said simply. "Because I do. Can you really turn that down?"

He didn't (verbally) answer her, but he neither pulled away or showed signs of wanting to lean in.

When nothing happened for five seconds, she slowly smiled, and gently touched her hands to his neck now, bordering on his cheeks. He made a nervous sound at that, but she continued smiling.

She stepped a little closer, adjusted her grip, and started leaning in. With her eyes half-closed, she didn't see Jaune's eyes clearly, but his lips were open a bit (and quivering). He did nothing for much of her leaning, but on the last inch, he did slightly twitch in her direction. Less than a second later, her lips gently touched his, bringing another sound out of him.

Several moments later, Jaune's indecision vanished; his hands moved down her back to her waist, and he kissed her back softly, though hesitantly.

She couldn't have been happier.

After they separated, Jaune looked fairly dazed, but she could understand that part.

She slowly smiled, glancing down for a moment. "Jaune, I don't entirely agree with you wanting to get strong by yourself, without help" she said. "But... I won't argue with it"

He slowly rubbed his head, but he smiled back. "Thanks, Pyrrha" he said, meaning it.

"Just promise me one thing"

"Huh?" he breathed, surprised.

"Promise me that you will let me help, even just a little?" she asked seriously. "Even the best heroes, hunters and athletes need some help from time to time"

He looked reluctant, but he didn't dismiss her words. "Name one" he said. "Name one of those who needed help"

She glanced down. "Me" she admitted.

He stared at her. "What?" he asked, stunned before he got over it. "_You_, Pyrrha?

"It's true, I worked my way through combat school, through all those games with my own talent" she said, hands in front of her. "But the truth? When I wanted to make my own weapon, I had the idea of what to make, but I didn't have a clue how the parts worked. My first try was a complete disaster"

He looked at her for a moment, but mostly he looked at the wall, where Milo and Akouo hung safely. "How'd you make _them_ then?" he asked, pointing as he asked.

"I got a special teacher, or a tutor" she said, but with some hesitation; she couldn't remember which it was now. "Anyway, he taught me what all the parts did, why they did so, and how I could use them effectively. He taught me until I could do it blindfolded, quite literally, despite my protests"

"Dang" Jaune breathed, looking scared at the very thought.

She slowly giggled a little. "Even now, I still have to brush up on those details" she said. "Otherwise, they could fail in the middle of a battle, and I'd be at a loss of what to do"

Jaune looked at her weapons for awhile, then back at her. "Pyrrha" he started, before he sighed. "Okay, I... I promise"

"You do?" she breathed.

He struggled a bit, but he nodded. "Yeah" he said, rather bluntly. "I promise that I'll accept a _little_ help-" he continued, before stepping forward determinedly, pointing a finger at her. "-but _only_ a little, understand?"

She noted how close he was, showing his determination on this, and merely smiled. "Of course, Jaune" she agreed. "Now all you've gotta do is seal that promise"

He blinked twice, the finger falling to his side. "How do I do that?"

She dipped her head briefly, keeping the smile, tapping her bottom lip once.

"Oh" he breathed, slowly registering this. "Of course. Right."

"And don't make it a quick one, Jaune" she added softly. "Show me you're serious. Am I clear?"

"Uh" he breathed weakly, before shaking himself out of it. "Crystal" he said, in an octave higher than normal, before he sighed again. "I'm sorry, just let me try ag-"

She cut him off by pulling his lips onto hers, heavily surprising him, though he eventually obliged. They were gonna enjoy this one; she could tell.

* * *

**My only real addition is "About time" lol XD Now if only we could see Nora break Cardin's legs, he he...**


	2. Karma

**Disclaimer:** Don't own RWBY or it's characters; those belong to RoosterTeeth and Monty Oum.

**Rating:** T

**For anyone who didn't see this coming: Surprise! ;)  
**

**For those who wanted me to do this: I had already written this just after I did the original chapter, just gonna release it days later and surprise you all (or not lol). Anyway, here it is, and hope it really makes vengeance sweet XD**

* * *

"Ohoho! This is gonna be fun!"

"It's gotta be done right, Nora" Ren said faintly to his overactive companion. "Wait by the edge of the Emerald Forest"

So he took off around the corner, ignoring Nora's sad little 'Ahhhh', but he did hear her walk away (or more like skip after a few steps).

Halfway down the hallway, he stopped at the designated door, and knocked.

He didn't have to wait long, as the door open. "Oh" Cardin said, looking around briefly. "What do you want, pink eyes?"

"Nora wishes to fight you" he said evenly. "Alone"

Cardin laughed, and was already shutting the door. "Doesn't sound fun"

Ren made no attempt to stop him. "Then I guess her chicken comment was accurate" he merely said, deadpan.

By sheer timing, the door closed just as he finished, but was almost immediately yanked open again. "You mind saying that again?"

"No" he answered. "Needing things repeated is a sign of stupidity (Cardin looked about ready to take him on). You wouldn't want to prove that to Nora, now would you?"

Cardin didn't answer for awhile, probably because he didn't know how to answer, but he shook that off. "Okay, where can I find her?" he asked intently, but it was also clear his insults hadn't gone forgotten.

"Edge of the Emerald Forest. Walk out the front door, and keep going; she'll be there"

"Thanks" he said sarcastically, stepping outside and closing the door. "But when I'm finished with her, you better watch it, or you're next"

Ren made no reply, or even change in expression. He watched as Cardin walked away, waited ten seconds, then followed him quietly.

* * *

Minutes later, Ren walked quietly over to the cliffs, looking briefly at the launching pads. For now though, he stopped near the ledge, kneeling down as he surveyed the area. It was too dark to see anything, but he was not discouraged; his eyes briefly gained a brighter shade of pink. Suddenly his vision sharpened, comparable to that of most night predators.

He saw Cardin below, walking toward the forest, and apparently wary of tricks. He also saw Nora, who was busy playing possum on a tree branch, quite literally.

He slowly glanced up, sighing as he ended his Aura, standing back up. Then he strode over the launch pads, knelt down again with a hand on the pad. Breathing slowly, he sensed out how they worked, even as his hand gained a pink glow.

With a sharp turn, his Aura turned the right parts for the launch pad, and he braced himself.

BAM!

Having done this once before, Ren was perfectly fine as he flew through the air, the air whipping at his clothes and hair. He stayed that way for roughly thirty seconds, then he pulled out his blades, aiming for the big tree in his path. With practiced motions, he dug them into the bark at right angles, and the sheer momentum propelled him in ever-lower circles. He landed on the ground without a scratch, lightly dusting himself off. Then he got down to business, heading the opposite direction that he'd came.

He arrived at the edge of the Emerald Forest in no time, found Nora still hanging upside-down (this time from one leg), but Cardin hadn't showed up yet. "Nora" he announced.

"Oh hey" she breathed happily, not fazed. "When could you fly?"

He slowly breathed in and out. "Since our initiation" he answered (she laughed), looking in Beacon's direction. "Cardin should be here soon. You remember what to do?"

"Yeah, yeah" she dismissed brightly, flipping down to the ground. "Fight Cardin, don't kill, and don't get in trouble no matter" she said quickly, then got an evil grin, wringing her hands together. "And breaking. LOTS of breaking!"

He hung his head, sighing. "At least try not to do that" he said resignedly, then faded back into the forest.

After carefully surveying the vantage points of the nearby trees, he climbed up one as silently as he could, then settled on a thick branch twenty feet up. Aside from a few stray branches thinner than his fingers, he could see where Nora stood perfectly. And in case Cardin happened to look in his direction, he had easy access to ways to prevent that. But for now, all he had to do was wait.

And watch.

Cardin arrived not long afterward, mace in hand over his shoulder. "Nora, right?" he asked, stopping ten feet.

"That's me!" she said cheerfully, trying to balance her weapon on one finger.

He briefly made a face. "I don't know if that's an act or who you really are, but I couldn't care less" he said arrogantly. "I'm only here because I know your skills are good, unlike some people, and that you've insulted me"

"Something about a turkey, right?" she mused, her weapon tilting dangerously, but she caught it. "Or some sort of chicken!"

He grunted. "We doing this or what?" he demanded.

She laughed. "Oh, such a downer!" she gestured with a grin, but held out Magnhild at the ready.

"Now that's more like it" Cardin said with approval, holding his mace in both hands.

The stare-down lasted only a moment, then Cardin clicked something on his mace, the head of which began spinning rapidly with a whirr. At that moment, Nora instantly aimed at him, blasting twice.

Cardin whipped his spinning mace through the air, and the result of which was a blast of wind, deflecting the bullets in mid-flight (which exploded afterward). "Not bad" he said, but it was hard to say if he meant it. "Anything else you wanna shoot me with?"

"Everything!" she claimed, Magnhild transforming into hammer form, and herself rushing forward.

Cardin also rushed forward, swinging the first few hits, which Nora either dodged or blocked, but eventually they were facing the opposite directions from before. Nora instantly went in for an from-above strike, which Cardin carefully blocked... but Nora's finger hit her trigger at that moment.

The explosion shook the ground, sending Cardin sliding backward until he stopped more than ten feet away, smoking a bit but unharmed. Also smoking but similarly unharmed, Nora merely grinned, Magnhild transforming to grenade launcher form.

She shot with abandon, forcing Cardin to take cover, and hitting multiple trees straight at the base with her explosive bullets. They still stood after she finished, but they were cracked in several places, then they started to creak.

After dodging several more, Cardin swung his spinning mace, creating another blast of wind that deflected the other bullets (at least, those aimed directly at him). He swung again, the blast of wind aimed at Nora, and it made her skid backward but little else. "Just like I saw in the security footage" he said, standing feet away from the trees Nora blasted earlier. "You're good. But you're still gonna lose"

"Why?" she asked, like it-wasn't-gonna-happen-but-she-was-interested-anyw ay. Neither of them noticed the increased creaking of the trees behind Cardin.

"Because you are" he said, like it was obvious. "I'll make sure of it"

The creaking increased in volume, and the trees began leaning. Cardin took no notice, until Nora did, then turned in confusion... and barely had enough time to freak out.

The crashing din was deafening (even Nora flinched), and kicked up a lot of dust, shielding Cardin from view.

Nora slowly opened her eyes, looked at the scene, then hung her arms. "I wanted that to last longer" she said sadly.

Ren jumped down from his perch, landing close to Nora. "There are bigger things to worry about" he said carefully, then picked his way through the dust, as did Nora. He paused to swipe his hand through a particularly thick patch of dust, then he saw Cardin's shape. He wasn't moving, and his legs were buried underneath several fallen trees.

"Ooo" Nora breathed, but not in her normal, cheerful way. "That's bad"

_"No kidding"_ he thought, but he knelt down, checking Cardin's neck (he had a pulse, but it was weak). "Work on that tree" he said faintly, referring to the middle one, while he got his hands around the closest one. He took a deep breath, then his hands started glowing pink, and he started pushing at the tree trunk.

He grunted, his arms straining even with his Aura; they were heavy, obviously.

But after a second, it moved a few inches, so he steeled his resolve and continued pushing. Similar sounds of effort from his right told him Nora was doing the same, and after a minute of effort, he'd pushed the tree trunk off Cardin. He panted heavily for awhile, saw Nora had finished her job, then gestured for her to help him push the final one together. That made it easier, but no less exhausting.

Afterward, as if she wasn't tired at all, Nora stood over Cardin with a questioning look. She prodded his body with her foot, "Is he even alive?"

"Barely" he answered, then looked carefully at Cardin. "...And you did break his legs"

"Hmm?"

He showcased this by grabbing Cardin's left leg (Cardin groaned in his unconsciousness) and holding it up. Instead of bending smoothly at the knee, only Ren's hand held up the mound of flesh his leg was now. No doubt there were far more visible symptoms on the skin itself.

The sight did not delight or bother her. "Still" she said, Magnhild going to her shoulder. "I wanted to break his legs myself!"

"You did" he said mildly. "Just indirectly"

"But that's no funnn" she drew out, before she switched tone immediately afterward, pulling her weapon off in a flash. "I know! While's he out like a light, I'll hit him myself, just to make it official that I did break his legs!"

Ignoring her devious grin, he thought it'd be pointless to hit Cardin's legs since they were already broken, but Nora wasn't normal, so the definitions of pointless and other words didn't have the same meaning (or any meaning, really).

So he resigned himself to the inevitable, and backed up five steps. "Fine, just... get it out of your system" he said, turning a full 180 and staying that way.

Nora's truly 'evil' string of laughter made him wonder what he'd just unleashed.

Too late for that now.

When the first _thump_ sounded, he didn't move or do anything. And actually, 'thump' was simply the least disturbing visualization of what Nora was doing, and didn't include Cardin's unconscious instinctive groans to the pain.

Then came another, a slight pause after that, then another and another...

He did everything he could to just stand there and wait, doing nothing.

The 'thumps' went on for some time, then when nothing happened for ten seconds, he slowly looked around.

Cardin was a mess, no two ways around it; his pants were darkly stained from the inside with blood, bent at weird angles, and otherwise very pale. Nora breathed in once, but otherwise seemed not to be out of breath, even as she put her weapon back on her back. "Well, now I feel better!"

"How many times did you hit him?" he asked reluctantly. He knew he'd regret it, but it was necessary (and easier to do after the act itself).

"Seventeen!" she said brightly, like it was something she did every day.

His mouth opened slightly as he stared at her.

She wasn't deterred: "At first I thought about doing it twice" she said brightly, doing a little dance like she couldn't be still. "One for each leg, but that wasn't fun. So I thought 'what about as many birthdays as I've had?', and that was the solution! So I hit him eight times on each leg, then the seventeenth time directly on his back... he should _really_ feel that in the morning"

Ren instinctively knew Cardin would feel his broken legs a lot more than a bruised back. His other instinct was that he was a little disturbed by this incident, and that it was partly his fault; _why_ did he let Nora have free rein on Cardin after he was already down?

He slowly sighed; he'd have to figure that out later. "Nora, go up to Beacon and get help. And if they ask what happened, tell them you don't know, but I will"

That brightened her up a little. "Sounds good, back in a jiff!" she said, then she was gone, leaving behind a pink blinking outline of herself (again).

He sighed again, then bent down and propped the still-unconscious Cardin on his back. He had an idea how he was gonna explain this, but certain details would be difficult to explain, like why all three of them were out of bed _and_ the school boundaries at this time of night. Also he'd have to do something to keep Cardin quiet about who did this, because he doubted them saying they didn't do it would suffice.

Like he'd said to Pyrrha, should be interesting either way.

* * *

**With the number of people who liked Nora's quote (plus that grin lol), and hated Cardin, this was fun to write ;) Hope it was satisfying all-around**

**And for anyone asking why that many, this is with some 'expectation' that Cardin will continue to be a jerk in the remaining episodes, next season(s), and so on. Partly karma for what's already done, and partly pre-paid karma for what he _will_ do in the future.**


End file.
